'Better Call Saul' Actor Lied About Military Service, Cut Off His Own Arm

Todd Latourette on "Better Call Saul" (AMC)

1 Nov 2018

New York Daily News|By
Kate Feldman

A New Mexico-based actor who built his career by telling casting directors that he lost his arm during combat in Afghanistan just admitted that he made it all up.

Todd Latourette, who most recently appeared in "Better Call Saul," told KOB4 that he cut his own arm off 17 years ago after he stopped taking his medication for bipolar disorder..

"I severed my hand with a Skilsaw," Latourette, who said he has bipolar disorder. "The state of my mind was a psychotic episode."

But instead, the fledgling actor, who uses a prosthetic, told directors that he had lost the arm while serving abroad.

"The film industry took a different angle, that I was different, and so they liked that," Latourette told KOB4. "They trusted me that I was exactly who I said I was. I was a war veteran. I was hired because I lied."

Other than the "Breaking Bad" spinoff, Latourette has also appeared in shows including "Longmire," "Manhattan" and "The Messengers."